Episodios

  • Episode 105.5: NASA Needs Your Help!
    May 24 2025

    In this episode, the (domestic) American sector of Astro[sound]bites covers the recent proposed budget cuts to NASA, the largest in NASA’s entire history. We cover the downsides that these cuts would have for science and the economy, and what you can do to speak out.

    How to reach out:

    Find your representative:

    https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

    AAS Letter Writing Guidelines for Astronomers:

    https://aas.org/advocacy/get-involved/action-alerts/action-alert-2025-support-science

    Planetary Society Letter Writing Guidelines for the General Public

    https://www.planetary.org/advocacy-action-center#/53

    Astrobite with Guidelines for Letter Writing

    https://astrobites.org/2025/04/15/help_nasa/

    Sources:

    The Budget Request (NASA Stuff begins on page 39 of the pdf)

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Fiscal-Year-2026-Discretionary-Budget-Request.pdf

    Original ArsTechnica Report:

    https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/04/trump-white-house-budget-proposal-eviscerates-science-funding-at-nasa/

    NASA’s economic output:

    https://www.nasa.gov/fy-2023-economic-impact-report/#:~:text=NASA%20Boosts%20the%20U.S.%20Economy,D.C.%2C%20in%20fiscal%20year%202023.

    NASA’s economic output reaches all 50 states:

    https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-economic-benefit-reaches-all-50-states/

    NASA’s research on climate change

    https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/

    NASA’s research on asteroid defense

    https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-defense/

    NASA Education and Outreach

    https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/space/education-outreach/

    Cuts disproportionately affect marginalized groups:

    https://www.fastcompany.com/91328007/trumps-federal-layoffs-are-disproportionately-impacting-women-and-people-of-color

    Más Menos
    9 m
  • Episode 105: Citizen Brain
    May 10 2025

    In today’s episode, Cormac, Cole and Lucia catch you up with all things Citizen Science. In the epoch of ChatGPT, Grok and Gemini (no, not the telescope), it’s easy to forget about the 20 Watt computer you’re using to read this sentence. Yes, even YOU can contribute to cutting-edge astronomical research, as we present two examples of cosmic crowdfunding in action. Cole convinces us that nearby galaxies need some Clump Scouts, and Lucia shows us how volunteers have been the (tur)key to finding a new star-studded dwarf galaxy. We also discuss the non-research benefits of democratising science, and in a fourth-wall-shattering pivot, we ask you, yes YOU, what you’d like to hear more of on a[s]b.

    astrosoundbites@gmail.com

    Astrobites:

    https://astrobites.org/2024/07/29/galaxy-zoo-clump-scout/

    https://astrobites.org/2023/11/18/a-lonely-little-galaxy-at-the-edge-of-our-neighborhood/

    Space Sound:

    Adapted from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6vbST9iMOU

    XKCD Comic:

    https://xkcd.com/1425/

    Article about the (not so?) amateur astronomer:

    https://astro.arizona.edu/news/tucson-doctor-wins-national-award-his-second-act-amateur-astronomer

    Más Menos
    49 m
  • Episode 104: Star Destroyers
    Apr 27 2025

    That stars die will be old news for most listeners. But sometimes, stars don’t just die, they get ripped apart by supermassive black holes. Cormac, Cole and Lucia discuss these so-called tidal disruption events. Specifically, how these events are connected to X-ray absorption features called extreme coronal lines. The hosts also take a look at one of the true superstars of supernova remnants: the Crab Nebula. As it turns out, studying the ejecta can give clues about the pulsar at the heart of the nebula. The discussion revolves around the every-day of doing science. Spoiler: it’s not all like solving exercise sheets.

    A New Look at Our Old Friend, the Crab Nebula https://astrobites.org/2025/03/16/new-look-at-crab/

    Exploring the remains of a destroyed (death) star https://astrobites.org/2025/03/08/exploring-the-remains-of-a-destroyed-death-star/

    Space Sound: https://youtu.be/aG300vtQ1es

    Más Menos
    45 m
  • Episode 103: Lambasting Lambda CDM
    Apr 12 2025

    Shoot, someone made the mistake of letting Cole pick the episode topic. In this episode, Cole, Cormac, and Shashank talk about the big boy on cosmology campus: Lambda CDM. This model has gotten a bit too big for its britches we think: what are the things about the universe that this model can’t explain? Shashank gives us a tour through the dark matter hearts of galaxies which don’t match up with cosmological predictions and Cormac shows us how 1500 (ish? We’re not clear on this one.) supernovae could hint at a fundamental flaw in Lambda CDM.

    Astrobites:

    Testing cosmology with the DES 5-year supernovae dataset:

    https://astrobites.org/2024/03/22/template-post-21/

    Digging into the Core: Dark Matter and Dwarf Galaxies

    https://astrobites.org/2015/07/14/digging-into-the-core-dark-matter-and-dwarf-galaxies/

    Space Sound:

    Listen to the hum of NANOGrav's gravitational wave background

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGO0wQK9ns4

    Más Menos
    57 m
  • Episode 102: Per-severance Ad Astra
    Mar 29 2025

    In this episode, Cormac, Lucia and Cole lift the lid on the lifecycle of space missions by peering into a preponderance of proposals. If you’ve ever wondered how your favourite telescope, rover or probe made it into space, then wonder no more. Lucia brings us a novel way to track potentially hazardous space junk using 5G, while Cole teases us with some magnetic results from the LISA Pathfinder mission. We also discuss our favourite proposed space missions, and debate the right balance between risk and reward.

    Astrobites:

    https://astrobites.org/2024/08/13/5g-signals-to-track-space-trash/

    https://astrobites.org/2024/12/21/template-post-15-2/

    Space Sound:

    https://www.nasa.gov/audio-and-ringtones/ (First Acoustic Recording of Laser Shots on Mars)

    Más Menos
    1 h y 4 m
  • Episode 101: Weather Woes
    Mar 17 2025

    Episode 101: Weather Woes

    In this episode, we take a dive into weather phenomena in space. Shashank, Cormac and Lucia discuss what the terms hot and cold mean in space and the temperature ranges we tend to see outside the Solar System and the galaxy. Then, Cormac tells us about the climate on Venus, and Lucia delves into cold fronts between galaxies. Finally, we round off with some hot takes about the most underrated parts of the electromagnetic spectrum in astrophysics!

    Astrobites:

    https://astrobites.org/2024/12/24/its-getting-hot-in-here-so-take-off-all-your-h2o/

    https://astrobites.org/2024/11/11/cold-front-outside/

    Space sound:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYXAdXf5gWU

    Más Menos
    57 m
  • Episode 100: Be There or Be Ten Squared
    Jan 12 2025

    Astrobites turns 100! For our ten squared-th episode we take a tour of all of the extremes of astrophysics: the heaviest and the lightest, the fastest and the slowest, the brightest and dimmest. In doing so, Shashank covers an astrobite on itty bitty particles that pack a big punch, Lucia talks about medium-ish galaxies and their black hole hearts, and Cormac panics about the danger of violent kilonovae. To help us celebrate, we meet up with some old friends to discuss dark matter, exoplanets, and how ridiculously long a Ph.D. takes.

    Astrobites:

    https://astrobites.org/2024/06/06/agns-quenching-dwarf-galaxies/

    https://astrobites.org/2013/06/04/cosmic-rays-from-the-telescope-array/

    https://astrobites.org/2023/11/20/kilonova-safety/

    https://astrobites.org/2018/08/16/do_the_milky_ways_stellar_streams_have_that_fuzzy_dark_matter_feeling/

    https://astrobites.org/2022/11/28/evaporating-exoplanet/

    Space sound:

    http://soundcloud.com/alexhp-1/supernova-sonata

    MIT study on children thinking logarithmically:

    https://news.mit.edu/2012/thinking-logarithmically-1005#:~:text=Cognitive%20scientists%20theorize%20that%20that's,is%2031%2C%20or%203.

    Más Menos
    1 h y 26 m
  • Episode 99: The Grand Finale
    Dec 1 2024

    Danger - explosive! This week’s episode is all about supernovae. These star-ripping, neutrino spewing explosions are important to various fields of astrophysics. Cormac, Cole, and Lucia discuss just when stars actually go supernova. And also, whether we can use gravitational waves to tell which compact object is left behind. Everybody gets to share their favourite supernova science and (as we all love to do) to complain about how much astronomers love old, inconsistent nomenclature. Enjoy!

    • Intro questions: Powering a Supernova https://astrobites.org/2024/10/04/how-to-power-supernovae/
    • The explodability criterion: How to make a star go supernova https://astrobites.org/2024/09/13/explodability-criterion/
    • Can we perform a Supernova Autopsy Via Gravitational Waves? https://astrobites.org/2024/10/08/gwautopsy/

    Space Sound: https://youtu.be/S-saaAyaW0c

    Más Menos
    56 m
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup